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Is the EU doing a U-turn on telecoms?

Annie Turner
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Is the EU doing a U-turn on telecoms?

Regulation has long been blamed for holding back European telcos. Should they be careful what they wish for?

As John Strand’s in-depth analysis of what to expect in 2023 outlines, this year feels like big shifts are coming in telecoms this year.

One major turnaround that appears to be on the cards is the European Commission’s thinking. The veteran European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, responsible for Competition and Digital, is calling for a single European telecoms market with only five to 10 mobile operators across the EU’s 27 markets. She claimed this is the only way to for telcos to make a return on investment, quoted in the Italian newspaper, Milano Finanza, at the end of January.

The alternative, she said, is excessive competition which has led to a situation in which Australians pay the equivalent of €30 for 40GB of data, whereas Italians pay €5 for the same allowance. This means telcos can’t invest enough in 5G infrastructure and other things. Vestager concluded: “investments are now at risk everywhere”.

Wrong-headed policy to blame?

The EC’s policy of insisting every EU country, no matter how small, should have four competing mobile operators had a lot to do with that pricing, along with obsessing about the wrong things, for instance, transmission speed instead of reliability and coverage – again John Strand has quite a lot to say about that too.

So Vestager has now concluded that the options are: consolidate at continental level; look to public taxation to fund infrastructure investment; or face “Europe’s progressive technological decline”.

Fellow European Commissioner Thierry Breton (and former CEO of the French incumbent, France Télécom, now Orange) who is responsible for Industrial policy in the EU reiterated that the Commission’s aim is to build a single market for telecoms and a consolidated market.

Licensing and fair contribution

He was speaking at an event in Helsinki in February and added, “The current fragmentation in Europe with suboptimised business models based on national markets and high costs for national spectrum licences is holding back our collective potential compared to other continents.”

Breton noted that discussions about such matters would be part of an industry consultation that would begin this month and would include an examination of whether the hyperscalers and streaming giants, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft and Netflix, should be contributing towards the capex bills of Europe’s telcos:

From the operators’ point of view, it’s been a long, hard road to get to these apparent turning points on consolidation and charging Big Tech for carrying its traffic. It remains to be seen if the old adage of “Be careful what you wish for” ultimately applies here. If and when the restrictions of poor and outdated regulation are removed, what or who can then be blamed if things don’t improve dramatically?

Mojeek promises searching without stalking

Nick Booth
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Mojeek promises searching without stalking

Is /e/OS a smartphone safe-space?

Secure smartphone operating system Eeyos (/e/OS) has added private search engine Mojeek to its portfolio of defensive options, for those who want to seach without being talked. The two vendors are part of a new privacy respecting sector aiming to, as one campaign group proclaims, ReclaimTheNet for the public. 

The respective founders of /e/OS and Mojeek, Gaël Duval and Marc Smith, said they are catering to growing concern about privacy invasions by technology companies. The ReclaimTheNet movement has created a new sub-sector of service providers that offer the option to search online without being tracked. 

“Just as organic food became real in the 2000s,” /e/OS founder Gaël Duval, “now we are pioneering this emerging and super dynamic fair-IT market.” There is a business logic to the privacy protection, according to Duval, because respecting privacy creates trust and that is the best foundation for sustainability.

The inventors describe /e/OS as a ‘deGoogled mobile operating system’ which goes to great lengths to remove all of the unnecessary and privacy-invasive aspects of Google’s de facto mobile platform on Android phones. Duval said his team have made the move to privacy as simple as possible for the end-user. In most similar operating systems this is impossible for the majority of non-technical users, who won’t know how to unlock and re-flash their previously Android-running device. 

Mojeek was started in 2004 but the increasing awareness of the privacy issue convinced tech veteran Colin Hayhurst that this is a company whose time has come and he joined as CEO in 2020. Mojeek now has a web search index of over 6.5 billion webpages. After becoming the first ever private search engine Mojeek has grown sustainably with funds from private investors who believe in its aims, it said in a release. 

There is a compelling case for privacy protecting systems and people should be able to search without being stalked or having their data harvested, according to Mojeek CEO Colin Hayhurst, CEO of Mojeek. “Our searches can be customised without any cookies,” said Hayhurst, “To provide that we built our search infrastructure, index and algorithms from the ground-up. Our mobile users want a platform from an entity that practices similar principles and is an alternative to Google, Apple and Huawei.”

However the new supply stream has been muddied by some alternative search engines that are not alternative at all and continue to source results from either Google or Microsoft’s Bing. Mojeek’s founder said it is a non-tracking search engine that is ‘truly and transparently independent’. Ease of use is another problem dogging those seeking privacy. However the collaborators claim that users can buy Murena smartphones, including their own phone Murena One, with the /e/OS operating system already running on them out of the box. 

The latest update of /e/OS 1.8, Mojeek search engine now can be found among the list of other privacy search options in the /e/OS browser. Those with smartphones running /e/OS can change the default search engine, in the Browser app, by clicking on 3 dots button in the top right corner then navigating to Settings where should opt for the Search engine specification.

BICS to slice half the world’s roaming traffic with SDN

Nick Booth
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BICS to slice half the world’s roaming traffic with SDN

A piece of 5G falls into place

Brussels based global carrier BICS has a new SDN (software-defined networking) controller to optimise traffic routing on its networks. This no ordinary network slice, according to Nokia, it’s “another piece of the 5G puzzle falling into place and taking the industry one step closer to global 5G adoption.”

There are two objectives for the new Nokia-built system. In the short term it wants to improve the quality of service but the SDN will also lay the groundwork for a longer-term project, the creation of 5G network slicing. The new SDN controller will manage capacity and flow routing across its global network. The controller can monitor routing paths across the network and then decide how to perfect the traffic flow at all times. The SDN has been tailored to create a bespoke model to set up functions like bandwidth calendaring and network slicing. These make more intelligent use of bandwidth across 5G networks, freeing up capacity as the connectivity needs of its corporate clients evolve. 

Better network distribution works on a software level, so that public safety applications can get their own dedicated slice of bandwidth. Another option is the scheduled capacity allocated to a department or system at predefined times, such as “calendaring” bandwidth every month for a cloud data backup. Machines will increasingly demand their own slice of the network, according to Rafael de Fermin, VP of the Network Infrastructure business in Europe at Nokia, who installed the SDN for BICS. “The Internet of Things can get the consistent quality of service that has been promised by 5G for some time. It’s another piece of the 5G puzzle falling into place and taking the industry one step closer to global 5G adoption.”  

Until now, the BICS network operators have only been able to create 5G slices for local traffic. The more immediate impact of this development is that BICS’ network will be better placed to serve low-latency and critical applications. Live video streaming for safety applications, at an industrial site, will now run without delays or outages. Delivery is improved by intelligent low-latency routing, whereby the SDN finds the most effective routes for each traffic type, automating switches to guarantee continuous connectivity.

“Network intelligence is worth investing in,” said Jorn Vercamert, VP of Products and Solutions at BICS, “it means even better service for our clients and their customers.”BICS’ network carries around half of the world’s roaming traffic.  

What to look out for at MWC Barcelona 2023’s Industry City

admin
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<strong>What to look out for at MWC Barcelona 2023’s Industry City</strong>

Richard Cockle, Global Head of IoT, Identity and Big Data at GSMA answers questions on this year’s Industry City

You launched Industry City at MWC Barcelona in 2022 and it’s returning this year – why is it such an important part of the show?

For the past 20 to 30 years, MWC Barcelona has been hugely influential in the development of mobile technology. The show has been essential to the development of countless products and services, and long will that continue into the future.

Around 10 years ago, we acknowledged that, to continue to grow and develop, the industry needs to embrace, collaborate with and, ultimately, move into other areas. So we started looking at the other verticals and what mobile could bring to their products and systems too. A decade on, all industries have made some form of transition to digital.

We’ve become extremely close to the verticals focused on smart mobility, including manufacturing, automotive and fintech – and know that companies from within these sectors can bring really strong innovation to the table, whether it’s using 5G for better quality of customer service or even just to simplify user interfaces for better experiences, we can all learn from one another when we share best practices.

Take financial services, for instance. Around three years ago, we brought UK banks together around user fraud, which costs the industry almost £13 billion per year. UK operators asked for data, from which they analysed and identified who was falling foul of this. Telcos devised a proof of concept, brought originally to NatWest, that is now being rolled out to mitigate fraud in other banks like Barclays and RBS.

This is just one example of many, and it’s why we introduced Industry City to MWC Barcelona last year as a dedicated area to bring businesses, industries and solutions together through mobile. It was so well received that we’re thrilled to be bringing it back to MWC Barcelona 2023.       

What can people expect from this year’s Industry City?

Once again, Industry City will be split into the Industry City exhibition show floor, the Industry City Stage and, of course, post-show networking drinks.

Last year, the Industry City Stage had more than 40 industry leading speakers across our dedicated industry summits, which are focused on FinTech, Manufacturing and Smart Mobility. Some 1,500 delegates turned up to hear about key industry topics, such as security, the metaverse, payments and fraud. This year, we have keynote speakers from the likes of NTT, Accenture, Mars, Tonomus, Palo Alto, World Pay, Airbus, BT, Verizon and JP Morgan.

But it’s not just about the stage, we’re also excited about the Industry City show floor, with a host of exhibitors joining us this year. This is where delegates can truly explore – it’s filled with demos, so they can get their hands on the latest innovations, from companies in their own sector and those from other verticals. It’s a great way to see how 5G technology can be applied for maximum effect to their own businesses, or used by their customers.

Can you tell us more about the Industry City summits?

We’ll be running three dedicated summits as part of the Industry City Agenda – just as we did last year. There will be a Manufacturing Summit, a FinTech Summit and a Smart Mobility Summit, taking place on the 27th February, the 28th February and the 1st March respectively.

At the Manufacturing Summit, delegates will hear from Teresa Tung from Accenture and Scott Gregg from Mars. Together with lessons learned, they will discuss their significant saving over the next several years by rapidly scaling digital twin technology to digitise global factory lines and assets. 

Throughout the day, industry leaders including Carlijn Williams from Nokia, Babatunde Akindele from Verizon Communications, Marc Overton from BT Business, and many others, will be exploring a range of topics including; connecting an industrial revolution with cutting-edge technologies, the industrial metaverse, digital twins, automation and private networks.

The FinTech Summit, meanwhile, will feature speakers including Martha Sazon from GCash, Frehiwot Tamru from Ethio Telecom and Jeff DeLong from Worldpay. Topics of the day will cover everything from Fighting Back Against Financial Crime through to the rise of Fintech disruption.

With the automotive market predicted to be worth $81 billion (€75.75 billion) by 2030, Smart Mobility provides substantial revenue opportunities for almost every modern-day industry. Attendees to the Smart Mobility Summit will hear about emerging themes, learn more about new case studies and future opportunities across the sector. Talks will be led by Mischa Dohler from Ericsson and Mark Thirman from IBM Consulting, as well as many more.

Will we get to see any demos?

I know exhibitors will wow us with their stands and a wealth of demos.

One demo I’m already aware of – and really looking forward to – is the AALTO Zephyr. The AALTO HAPS team will have an AALTO Zephyr drone hanging above the stand and will show how it can deliver connectivity from the sky to remote regions (to aid forest fires, oil rigs, etc.). Visitors to the stand can see a number of scale drone models and hear AALTO HAPS’ many real-life use cases for the technology.  

Other demos I can’t wait to see are those that will highlight how 5G can facilitate smarter and more efficient service solutions across all industries. Urovo will be showcasing its state-of-the-art smart terminals with recreations of the factory floor, storage areas and retail areas. Visitors can see how 5G technology is empowering supply chains and just-in-time delivery, as well as getting a first look at VR and voice identification technologies.

Accenture’s demos will cover cutting-edge remote-control vehicles that keep worker safety front of mind, AI within industrial use cases, as well as edge computing innovations so that CSPs can best monetise their 5G investment.

To make sure delegates see the best of these demos, we’ll be arranging walking tours of the exhibition floor.

Last summer, GSMA launched the 5G Industry Challenge. What can we expect to see from the winning entries?

We launched the 5G Industry Challenge as we’ve seen so many people and companies benefit from 5G, but wanted to ensure we were sharing best practices across industries. We’ve created a transformational hub which showcases how 5G benefits users and filled it with case studies showing real-world business outcomes of the technology. The Industry Challenge has been designed to encourage more companies across the vertical sectors to come forward with their own projects.

I don’t want to reveal too much about the winners, but we’ve seen some amazing stories come through, all of which are showing how 5G is really making a positive business impact for users. One example is where we’ve seen drones being used on windfarms to make things more efficient. By using 5G, drones can analyse the profile of wind turbines, and see if it’s impacting other turbines. Understanding this can help improve a farm’s efficiency by 30%. That kind of thing is something that really benefits us all and it’s why we wanted to see – and recognise – the amazing work that’s going on through the challenge.  

You can sign up for MWC Barcelona 2023 via the registration page here – https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/passes

New TTP digital twin takes your NTN 5G tests for you

Nick Booth
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New TTP digital twin takes your NTN 5G tests for you

Lowers the pains, speeds up the gains

UK based TTP and its project partners claim to have solved one of the most expensive and time-consuming challenges of 5G network building: the cost of testing and validating each stage of a network that’s ‘extra’ terrestrial. They’ve achieved this by created a digital twin on earth for every space born (AKA satellite or non-terrestrial) 5G network. This means they can conduct modelling, testing and remote diagnostics and expedite what’s currently a laborious expensive process. 

Now TTP is offering a complete service that satellite operators, device manufacturers, app developers, MNOs and network infrastructure providers can use to see how their products and services will interoperate with the NTN network. With the feedback from using TTP’s 5G NTN digital twin modelling, emulation and validation system they can then refine and adjust their offerings accordingly. 

“Network operators can test the behaviour of their physical counterparts under diverse operating conditions,” said Peng Cao, Vice President and General Manager of Keysight’s Wireless Test group, “ultimately the telecoms and satellite ecosystem bring NTN technology to the market faster.”

TTP built the service by integrating its proprietary lab testing tools with Keysight’s PropSim Channel emulator and EXata network modelling suite, in addition to Ansys STK, a physics-based modelling environment. 

Pascal Herczog, Advanced Technology Lead at TTP, explained the rhyme and reason of the project. “The cost of design changes increases exponentially during [an] product development lifecycle while the scope for making those changes reduces exponentially,” said Herczog. 

With satellite systems the cost of and complexity of making late changes is likely to be much higher than terrestrial systems. This makes a (digital twin) NTN system testing even more critical before a launch. With the design phase typically comprising a third of the product development phase, it helps if there is complete confidence in the design. “The chances of that happening are significantly higher when you can test it as part of a complete system, rather than just in isolation,” said Herczog, “this also helps focus effort on the aspects of the end-to-end architecture and design that give the best performance benefit.”

The verification and test phase is usually two thirds of your project and catching problems here can save you significant time in field testing. Integration of 5G TN and NTN systems creates new challenges that cannot be easily tested at scale even after launch, and do not have years of TN data to fall back on.

In the ‘testing environment’ they have created, anyone involved in a network project can validate their system against 3GPP Release 17 NTN specifications. This includes end-to-end coverage of user terminal and antenna designs, satellite link budgets, regenerative payloads, ground stations and 5G core network components. The digital twin also includes full environmental modelling with detailed terrain analysis for real-time protocol measurements, real-time physics-based analysis, and user application modelling. 

“Our clients can [use this system to] explore system configurations for Regenerative payloads, model inter-satellite handover and terrestrial and non-terrestrial interactions,” said Adrian Hillier, next generation market lead at TTP, “ultimately, they can measure the quality of service experience for upcoming Non-Terrestrial Networks. We aim to fine-tune 5G NTN innovation, ensuring more efficient satellite network deployments in the near future.”  

See the digital twin and lab emulation at MWC23, UK trade pavilion, Hall 7, booth 7B21.

Watch How are Digital Twins Driving Network Transformation? CET 28th February.

Neos Networks emerges as preferred bidder for Network Rail’s fibre upgrade

Annie Turner
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Neos Networks emerges as preferred bidder for Network Rail’s fibre upgrade

New fibre infra is promoted as a fix for everything from gaps in 5G coverage to better value for taxpayers

Neos Networks announced it has been selected as preferred bidder for Network Rail’s Project Reach. This is an initiative to update and upgrade the railway’s communications infrastructure, much of which is still copper based, and make the railway safer, more modern and create a “digitally connected rail network”.

Last year Neo, bidding alongside Cellnex, and Virgin Media with bidding partners Nokia and Jacobs, received approval to bid for the 16,000km (about 10,000 miles) of cabling that runs alongside Network Rail’s tracks. The estimated value was £1 billion.

This privatisation plan to upgrade the trackside cable infrastructure plus build 250 mobile masts to help erradicate 5G ‘notspots’ for commuters, was was unveiled by Network Rail in 2021.

So the plan is to improve the infrastructure for the railway which in turn promises to enhance safety and efficiency, improve communications for passengers onboard trains and in stations, while helping the winning bidder to extends its own footprint. The privatisation of the infrastructure will contribute to the indebted Network Rail’s coffers.

The deal for Neos

As Network Rail’s exclusive infrastructure provider, Neos will invest in the design and build of a new fibre optic communications network track side, providing up to 16,000km of fibre alongside the railway lines. The network will be used to carry essential information for running the railways, such as signalling, sensors, CCTV and high-speed broadband for trains, railway depots and offices.

Earlier this year, Network Rail announced it was in exclusive discussions to enter a long-term partnership to upgrade its ageing telecoms infrastructure. The deal “will result in significant savings for the taxpayer and bring improved performance, safety and connectivity benefits for railway passengers,” apparently.

Neos Networks says it owns one of the fastest growing, wholesale fibre networks in the UK, spanning 34,000km and 550 exchanges. It will work in partnership with an as yet unnamed tower company looking to leverage its 4G and 5G network infrastructure, with the objective of offering end-to-end fixed and mobile connectivity to Network Rail.

This project will enable Neos Networks to expand its national footprint and improve access to high capacity services. These services will benefit customers including enterprises, hyperscalers and service providers, as well as mobile network operators looking to enable 4G and 5G connectivity along the rail corridor.

Neo says the new network could advance the roll-out of FTTP across Britain by improving infrastructure access for alternative network providers, while bridging the UK’s digital divide and rural connectivity conundrum.

Colin Sempill, CEO at Neos Networks said, “This new network will deliver a step-change in connectivity and available capacity, which, in turn will help to transform UK rail for the passengers and neighbouring communities it serves.

“We look forward to working with Network Rail to finalise the contract and start mobilising this project which will see the creation of numerous jobs in different geographies. This is critical for us as we continue to support UK businesses and service providers with the high capacity connectivity services essential for innovation and help deliver on the government’s plans to improve the availability of high-quality broadband across the UK.”

Ericsson and Telia’s Northstar to guide Swedish invention

Nick Booth
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Ericsson and Telia’s Northstar to guide Swedish invention

AstaZero getting the best out of 5G

Swedish operator Telia and its compatriot equipment maker Ericsson are running a programme designed to stimulate invention in the way Sweden’s industrial complexes use 5G. The Northstar programme will focus on the transport sector and will school lorry manufacturers in disciplines like network slicing and positioning so that they can develop new use-cases.

The first customer to sign up to the Northstar scheme is AstaZero, which runs the world’s first full-scale independent test environment for automated transport systems. “The advantage of having one open network and another closed one is that we can step up both research and development testing,” said Peter Janevik, CEO at AstaZero. A self-driving truck, for example, can undergo research tests in the closed network in AstaZero’s FLX Zone, so engineers can simulate operations in a harbour or logistics centre. Then they can see how things work after the machine has left the FLX Zone. “The truck would transition to the public network, just as it would when leaving the closed area,” said Janevik. The beauty of the scheme is that they can see how it works in the ‘real world’ while still in the safe confines of the AstaZero Proving Ground, according to Janevik. “This is one more example of how AstaZero increases digitally driven research and development possibilities.”

Experts in 5G from both Telia and Ericsson are now clambering in and out of lorries trying to solve the perennial challenge of teaching lorries to drive themselves without putting the public at risk.  Gothenburg-based AstaZero is owned and operated by the research organization RISE, which is partnering with Volvo, Veoneer and Scania.

NorthStar’s own private 5G network uses Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core and connects to Telia’s existing public 5G network, currently being rolled out across Sweden. This means that organisations using NorthStar’s 5G environment could benefit from high-speed connectivity across large geographical areas. In addition, customers could build their own networks at their own locations in order to create test sites and R&D facilities, and connect them to the NorthStar network.

Sweden is an industrial powerhouse but without access to robust and secure digital infrastructure, its businesses risk falling behind, according to Telia Sweden CEO Anders Olsson. NorthStar will guide industrialists through the trials and tribulations of collaboration as they configure 5G to become the nervous system that creates intelligent and sustainable transport. 

Ericsson takes part in 100 industry organisations, standards bodies and technology alliance groups. It connects 7,000 enterprises across multiple sectors. In previous joint enterprises Telia and Ericsson created Europe’s first 1G network and the world’s first 4G network. “NorthStar’s ambition is to be the catalyst to further develop Sweden as a leading industrial nation and to increase our international competitiveness,” said Erik Ekudden, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Ericsson.

Liberty Global snaps up 5% stake in Vodafone

Annie Turner
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Liberty Global snaps up 5% stake in Vodafone

Just the latest to snaffle a share of the cut-price stock after e& and Xavier Niel

Vodafone is enduring an extended rough period – the group has lost about 55% of its value in the last five years – but clearly there is belief in the industry that things will get better. Colorado-based Liberty Global is the latest fellow operator group to buy a tranche of shares, worth €1.2 billion and equating to a 4.92% stake, in Vodafone Group.

In September, French billionaire Xavier Niel announced bought a 2.5 per cent stake in Vodafone although Vodafone turned down his 11 billion offer to acquire its Italian opco. His Iliad Group operates under the Free brand in France and Italy, and Play in Poland.

Over the last year, the UAE operator group, e&, formerly known as Etisalat. has built an almost 13% stake.

Fries told the Financial Times [subscription needed] that Liberty Global had not had discussion with Niel or e&.

Like e&, Liberty Global said it is not seeking a seat on the board nor is it proposing a takeover bid.

Liberty Global’s CEO, Mike Fries, told the FT, “The stock’s cheap — it’s an opportunistic and financial investment,” and said his company has $3.5 billion in cash to “put to work”.

This is a clear signal that Liberty Global expects Vodafone’s fortunes to improve and mentioned the possible merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK. The proposed deal was mooted in early October,but the negotiations are apparently continuing and approvals will be required.

Fries noted the UK is the only market in which there are still four networks operators as, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland have all consolidated down to three.

Exfo sees MTN Group transformation in Context

Nick Booth
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Exfo sees MTN Group transformation in Context

Embrace change, avoid disruption 

MTN Group has successfully installed Exfo’s ‘context dynamic’ design in 14 African countries to support its digital transformation, it says. Testing, monitoring and analytics specialist Exfo will run a tighter, more secure network inventory and boost performance across MTN’s voice, data, fintech, digital, enterprise, wholesale and API services to 270 million customers in 19 markets.

After early adoption of the system in MTN Uganda and South Africa, the mobile operators said that a simplified network management and a better picture of its telecom assets had measurably improved the quality of their customer services. Exfo Context has streamlined MTN’s network management, created a more reliable data inventory and made the planning and assurance processes more thorough.

Exfo Context uses native graph database technology and a semantic modelling framework to extend a complete dynamic view of networks, services and customer dependencies enabling key automation use cases. Automation relieves pressure on network managers, giving them the right information at the right time to make informed decisions, the vendor says.

It can be stressful for people when a company is in a permanent state of flux and the work environment becomes unstable. Meanwhile, from a management perspective, the introduction of new technologies like 5G, network virtualisation and programmable networking multiply the complexity. All of which makes the need for visibility is a vital quality, according to MTN Group CTO Amith Maharaj.

Meanwhile customers want reliable service performance, which is also made more difficult by the increased complexity of the network and related service assurance processes. With the help of Exfo’s automated updates, change audits and service impact analysis, MTN operators have helped to keep everyone happy. At MTN Uganda, where most of the planning and operation team is using Exfo, the finance and resourcing departments are using network data to guide their budgeting decisions, said Ali Monzer, CTIO, MTN Uganda.

Staff and network managers feel reassuringly in control of their lives as they can quickly grasp the state of their network and assess the impact of faults or planned maintenance activity. Stress levels are kept to a minimum when everyone understands whether detected changes have received the necessary approval from a change management process perspective, according to Exfo’s VP for EMEA Wim te Niet.

The digital transformation of the network is a top priority for MTN and wherever Exfo’s system is in place it will support the adoption of new technologies accord to Lloyd Mphahlele, MTN Group GM: Transport and OSS Tools. “The transformation was enormous and exciting at the same time. Exfo addressed the complexity in the network domain and create a single pane end-to-end view, that has significantly improved our operations,” said Mphahlele. 

More detail are here. The Exfo specialists will be at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain Feb. 27 – March 2.

Amphenol puts Open RANs to the antenna test

Nick Booth
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Amphenol puts Open RANs to the antenna test

No more blind launches

France’s Amphenol Antenna Solutions (AAS) has created the European mobile network industry’s first official test centre for the aerials and receivers whose functions can make or break a network. Until now, it seems, the European Open RAN network builder has operated in the dark as they assemble their infrastructure. Most mobile network operators have unanswered questions about the real-world suitability of their planned Open RAN system, according to Mette Brink, CEO of Amphenol Antenna Solutions, which seeks to bring order to the chaos. Under pressure to meet deadlines, many operators leave the question of antenna performance to chance. This service could be invaluable as it takes out the fear, anxiety and guesswork involved.

The new facility in Amboise, in France’s Loire Valley, uses an MVG SG Evo measurement system that has been specially designed to enable European network operators check the compatibility and performance of Open RAN hardware and software. It’s the latest ‘state of the art’ SG system developed by MVG, according to MVG’s project engineer Robin Pasquier. The testing equipment maker’s mechanical oversampling is coupled with a positioner capable of supporting heavy antennas. This, said Pasquier, creates the best possible environment for base transceiver station antenna testing. It has “unparalleled accuracy,” said Pasquier. 

AAS recognised that Mobile operators, systems integrators and other network builders need to find the best set up for their needs but there was no system that used the antenna as the basis of their investigation. Working on the assumption that much of the success of an installation everything hinges on the performance of these receiversof transmissions, operators can benchmark antennas from different manufacturers. They will be given a full analysis from every perspective, including a view of 3D radiation patterns. The Amphenol review also checks compatibility with backbone networks, runs over-the-air end-to-end tests and shows network engineers the volume of traffic handled and electricity used. 

It saves operators a huge amount of time and money if they can get all this information in one place in one set of exercises, according to AAS. Operators will be able understand the impact of changing a system component, run tests to diagnose any issues that might arise and immediately resolve issues in the field.

The facility gives operators access to a team with 75 years’ experience in antenna design and testing. The location is convenient for operators to assemble their multivendor Open RAN teams, although it will also be possible to manage tests remotely. The ambient, Loire Valley surroundings would also make this a pleasant work destination for engineers across Europe.

The facility is located in the picturesque Loire Valley region, in the historic town of Amboise, once the home of the French Royal Court and the childhood home of Charles VIII. It also housed the greatest inventor of all time, Leonardo da Vinci. Visiting engineers might also take inspiration from a visit to the Museum of Secrecy while the equipment is being tested. These historical surroundings should remind engineers that Open RAN network cannot afford any secrets and engineers cannot stand on ceremony.

“Most MNOs have many unanswered questions about the real-world suitability of their planned Open RAN system,” said Mette Brink, CEO of Amphenol Antenna Solutions. “By providing a convenient way to answer these questions, we can help them find an Open RAN setup they are confident to take into the field. Ultimately, we’re helping them get closer to achieving the cost savings and flexibility they want from Open RAN.”

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